In 1928 New York native Muriel Earley Sheppard moved with her mining engineer husband to the Toe River Valley -- an isolated pocket in North Carolina between the Blue Ridge and Iron Mountains. Sheppard began visiting her neighbors and forming friendships in remote coves and rocky clearings, and in 1935 her account of life in the mountains -- Cabins in the Laurel -- was published. The book included 128 striking photographs by the well-known Chapel Hill photographer, Bayard Wootten, a frequent visitor to the area. The early reviews of Cabins in the Laurel were overwhelmingly positive, but the mountain people -- Sheppard's friends and subjects -- initially felt that she had portrayed them as too old-fashioned, even backward. As novelist John Ehle shows in his foreword, though, fifty years have made a huge difference, and the people of the Toe River Valley have been among its most affectionate readers. This new large-format edition, which makes use of many of Wootten's original negatives, will introduce Sheppard's words and Wootten's photography to a whole new generation of readers -- in the Valley and beyond.

Laurel sets off into the gloomy Great Forest to track a new friend-- who may have stolen the woodfairies' most precious possession.

This is the first edition of Skelton's elaborate dream-allegory to be based on a thorough examination of extant texts. It represents a major revision of our knowledge of Skelton's career and of the form and meaning of the poem. Extensive introduction, notes, and glossary.

Laruel Mountain Laruel: the title is a sort of rough palindrome, appropriate for Jake Reinhart's vision, in which time is reflected upon itself and the end is also the beginning (and is also the end). The transient and the enduring are revealed to be one and the same. These photographs - somehow both tender and unsparing - were made in Southwest Pennsylvania, in the Youghiogheny region. One surviving translation has it that "Yough" means four, and "henné" means stream. "I've been along those four streams, and I've seen how they come together," Reinhart says, "losing their specificity yet retaining what is inherent to each - creating something larger and joining places and people that would otherwise appear disjointed and separate." As for the streams, so for the images in Laruel Mountain Laurel: individual pictures exist essentially, while together they bind both space and time - the eternal and the geological brought into a semblance of coherence with the fragile and the human. We see that, despite our best efforts to erase and exploit, the land will ultimately have its own way, and on its own schedule. --

From LA's trendy bakery comes the new definitive grain-free baking book that makes eating paleo, gluten-free, and dairy-free diets a lot sweeter for home bakers. From the beginning, Sweet Laurel has been about making sweet things simple. The recipes here are indulgent yet healthful. They use just a few quality ingredients to create delicious desserts that benefit your body; all of these treats are paleo, and many are vegan and raw. From Matcha Sandwich Cookies to Salted Lemon Meringue Pie to Classic German Chocolate Cake, these treats are at once uncomplicated, beautiful, and satisfying, made only with wholesome ingredients such as almonds, coconut, cacao, and dates. Here, too, are basic staple recipes to keep with you, like grain-free vanilla extract and vegan caramel, and fancy finishes, like paleo sprinkles and dairy-free ice cream. Whether you’re looking for simpler recipes, seeking a better approach to dessert, or struggling with an allergy that has prevented you from enjoying sweets, Sweet Laurel will change the way you bake.